Ad of the Day: The Guardian's New Lifestyle Magazine Is Dangerously Great

It was exactly a year ago that the Guardian and BBH London unveiled the "Own the Weekend" campaign, envisioning a world in which the newspaper literally owned the weekend—or as it would be known henceforth, the Guardian and Observer Weekend™. For 2014, the newspaper company is offering another installment of the campaign to promote its new weekend lifestyle supplement. The title: "Use in Moderation."

It's the weekend—sorry, the Guardian and Observer Weekend™—and Ian, an average suburban dad, bids goodbye to his wife and daughter as they run out for an hourlong errand. Rather than join them, Ian opts to stay home and read the paper. But it's not just the paper—it's the chock-full-of-ideas weekend edition of the Guardian. And as a narrator warns us, "It's all just too much for one human being."

Flash forward one hour. Havoc reigns. The kitchen is a disaster. Sudoku puzzles cover the walls. There's a goat in the hallway. Oh, and the shed is on fire. Ian, now wild-eyed and down to his skivvies, has attempted to cook every recipe, tackle every DIY project and adopt every hobby mentioned by the newspaper. "It was Ian versus the weekend," the narrator deadpans, "and the weekend won."

Once again, the concept is very literal—but the end result is still very, very good. While it's generally not advised (at least in the marketing world) to imply that the use of one's product will result in complete mayhem, when said product is something as decidedly un-edgy as a newspaper, the concept actually works. And let's face it, if anything can use a bit of excitement, it's the newspaper industry.

It was exactly a year ago that the Guardian and BBH London unveiled the "Own the Weekend" campaign, envisioning a world in which the newspaper literally owned the weekend—or as it would be known henceforth, the Guardian and Observer Weekend™. For 2014, the newspaper company is offering another installment of the campaign to promote its new weekend lifestyle supplement. The title: "Use in Moderation."

It's the weekend—sorry, the Guardian and Observer Weekend™—and Ian, an average suburban dad, bids goodbye to his wife and daughter as they run out for an hourlong errand. Rather than join them, Ian opts to stay home and read the paper. But it's not just the paper—it's the chock-full-of-ideas weekend edition of the Guardian. And as a narrator warns us, "It's all just too much for one human being."

Flash forward one hour. Havoc reigns. The kitchen is a disaster. Sudoku puzzles cover the walls. There's a goat in the hallway. Oh, and the shed is on fire. Ian, now wild-eyed and down to his skivvies, has attempted to cook every recipe, tackle every DIY project and adopt every hobby mentioned by the newspaper. "It was Ian versus the weekend," the narrator deadpans, "and the weekend won."

Once again, the concept is very literal—but the end result is still very, very good. While it's generally not advised (at least in the marketing world) to imply that the use of one's product will result in complete mayhem, when said product is something as decidedly un-edgy as a newspaper, the concept actually works. And let's face it, if anything can use a bit of excitement, it's the newspaper industry.